Lapis Re:LiGHTs

Enjoy a wonderful light show with glamorous idol music! Experience the great adventures of cute girls in a completely new idol direction! Idols who are witches as well, doing a magic show, a combination the world has not seen in this form before!

STORY:
Our journey starts with Tiara, a young and beautiful witch apprentice, who travels from her hometown Bristol to the metropolis Mamkestell, the home of Flora Girls’ Academy. She always had the dream to become a student there and quickly finds that she truly has the latent ability to become a proper Witch, with a bright future ahead of her: a future that will ... include finding new friends and forming an idol unit together.
After reuniting with her best friend Rosetta, their dynamic duo relationship is particularly emphasized as well, Tiara decides to join her and her friends group to form the idol group "LiGHTs" together. Each of the five girls is unique in its own way and has a different magical ability. Together they fight for their survival in the Academy due to the rather poor grades. They go through difficulties together, even if something does not go according to plan, they do not give up.
Lapis Re: LiGHTs consists of seven different idol groups. Although the focus is on LiGHTs, we get to know the group members of "IV KLORE", "Konohana wa Otome", "Sugar Pockets", "Sadistic ★ Candy", "supernova" and "Ray". They understand and support each other very well; they are friends and even go for adventures together.

CHARACTER:
Tiara, also the leader of LiGHTs, is a bright and cheerful mood maker. Because she was prone to sickness as a child, she has a strong desire to cheer people up by singing. She is the 2nd princess of Waleland but wants to be treated like a normal girl. She wants to help everyone and make people happy. With her beautiful voice, she gives people hope and joy.
With Rosetta, her childhood friends, they often compose music together. Rosetta is smart and a hardworking girl, she is quite popular amongst her juniors. Before the reunite with Tiara, Rosetta tried to do everything on her own, putting herself under pressure and in a position of high risk. She never asked for help, she does not want to burden anyone with her own problems.
The most serious member of the group is Ashley, she can be a little bit sharp sometimes as well. As the costume designer for the group, you can't tell by looking at her, but deep in her heart she aims to become a knight, like her father. With these words "You can't be a good knight with strength alone", she was recommended to study as a witch.
Lavie, the exact opposite of Ashley and her roommate as well, is the sportiest girl. She has a lot of self-confidence with a naïve personality but is horrendously bad at studying, making her always at the bottom of the class in tests. She really admires the leader of the legendary unit "Ray": Eliza (Tiara’s older sister).
Last but not least, we have the group bookworm: Lynette. She aspires to be a witch who can shine in public and is a witch otaku who has an abundant knowledge on witches. With her shy personality you cannot tell, but she is an avid daydreamer, even occasionally fantasizing about "her other classmates making out with each other”.
We do not only learn the history and past from these five cute and beautiful girls, we also learn many exciting and emotional things from their friends in other groups: What their dreams are. Why they want to be witches. How they will captivate us all with their wonderful songs.

ART:
The art style in Lapis Re: LiGHTs is definitely one of the points that caught my eye and captivated me. The girls are presented very cute in a classic CGDCT style. Nevertheless, the environment is also full of beautiful colors. Everything is displayed very dynamically. The beautiful lights that can be seen during their orchestra performance and the perfect coordination of the choreography are all elements that magically attract everybody.

SOUND:
The music is always extremely important for an idol anime. After only the first two episodes, their songs already thrilled me. I really love the OP and ED; they are both suitable for the idol genre. The very last episode is full of music from all the different group which are really great. Besides that, we can even hear a solo from time to time by Tiara or another girl. Although there are not many songs released by the different Lapis Re: LiGHTs groups in general right now, all the songs are very nice to listen. Idol music gives you strength and a good mood; this is definitely the case here.
In addition to the music, the background noises are also well represented; every sound is in harmony with each other.

ENJOYMENT:
After the first episode, I was already extremely enthusiastic about this anime. I really love every aspect of Lapis. All elements harmonize perfectly with each other in my opinion. I enjoyed every episode. Although I have never heard of the game or this franchise before, I am already fascinated by it.
For every CGDCT and idol fan, I can really recommend to watch this anime. You will certainly not be disappointed with this. Let yourself be enchanted by the wonderful magic and music!
They are our LIGHTs!

In the end, I definitely wish for a second season and more songs that are beautiful! The story and idol adventures of our girls will surely go on!

Not a masterpiece, but a fine piece of art. Lapis Re:LIGHTs breaks the “Re:” curse and gains a nice position in this season’s chart. Maybe too underestimated, and maybe it’s because that underestimation that I can give a high score.

Although it’s evidently a moe product, the depiction of the story and world is much more deeper than “non-moe” works of this period, giving the impression that those kind of works lack the attention and the perfectionism which we find in Lapis Re:LIGHTs. The technical direction is extremely precise, with cinematographic cuts and meticulous care of context and scenery. Oh, how I like the satisfaction of ... having a character design meant for beauty and not for arousing the viewer. There’s not much to tell: this level of accuracy in details and product construction trespasses every other anime of the season: first place and academic kiss, chapeau!

The story is nonexistent in the beginning, but a good painting doesn’t necessarily need a good story to tell. We have a peak in the late episodes where we discover the harsh meaning of being an idol witch, not just smiling and dancing.

Then, the characters. Everyone has a personality, everyone has a role, everyone is an apparent stereotype. Just what I need in these idol products, perfect. Dialogues and interactions flow naturally through all the scenes, nothing is forced, everything is calculated in the author’s mind, and that’s a simple but good fact. The balance between all the characters is so well created that you cannot recognize a protagonist: the entire group is important and composed by main characters, which strengthen the cohesion between the viewer ant the story.

TL;DR: Real enjoyment, relaxing time.

The evolution of this kind of products is astounding, and I hope for more of this simple but refreshing stories.

The best thing about Lapis Re:light is that i wasn't expecting anything at all. The synopsis came up late and i didn't read it before i watched, so, this is completely first impressions.

The theme is really moe, and by that i mean its chill. Just cute girls doing cute stuff and having fun with their friends. I like those stuffs, but i won't give it a 10/10; the plot is flat (like the protagonist) and i don't see it evolving anywhere.

SHIKASHI, the current vibe of the anime is really cute and pretty, the art is better than it first apparents, and the songs (till now) ... are cute as well.

i think it is an ok 7/10, a pretty chill and fun anime like Princess Connect was last season!

This anime is not meant for everyone, the plot is lackluster and there are tons of characters for a one cour anime but if you've been following lapis relights for a while then it wont be a problem.

The plot follows you're average cliche idols shows but this with magic it might sound like the magic thing has just been added because there lacking of ideas. The magic aspect of it makes the anime unique because it opens up to new things like girls living in fantasy environment instead of the modern one and also girls with different aspects.

The art is just dazzlimg and brilliant, there ... might be few up and downs but other than that it fits the anime perfectly.

Being a music anime it really lives upcto the expectation its full of surprises magic and music coming togethere is just perfect. Each unit has there own unique style of singing and it's such a fun idea to watch them grow.

Charactes from these are a lot knowing it's a big franchise and only in 1 cour theres no way there going to develop each character but it's not that big of a problem if you've been following for a while but it can hinder the viewing experiencea for others.it's up to you

Going down in IDOL HELL is you're choice watch this and let the franchise grow because it's a really unique anime.

Talk about surprise of the season. Without any prior knowledge coming into this series I was fully expecting a low budget soulless mobage adaptation not unlike Nanabun. And not especially Milky Holmes Lite.

To be perfectly honest going in into the first episode initially had me fearing the show would be your typical idol show with school saving, rivals, angst and protagonist powers. Then the second episode completely and utterly shattered those expectations to become something special. I mean, this is a show with a goddamned lesbian cabaret club. It’s wacky and insane and thankfully the idol stuff is kept to a minimum and the justifications ... for idol activities in a fantasy setting are done well enough.

It's clear a lot of thought and effort has been put into what is essentially a mobage ad. The setting and backgrounds are beautiful and the faux-mediterranean setting is a welcome change for a fantasy setting that doesn't reuse the same medieval europe isekai template. Even minor background characters have interesting developments like that one couple who appears in backgrounds and breaks up by the end of the show. It's great and proof that nothing is taken for granted or regarded as some throwaway prop. Even the final plot twist had been telegraphed since the beginning of the show.

Of course, that's not why I enjoyed the show so much. And it's not because of the mediocre songs as well (some are decent though). It's largely the cast and characters and how damedame they all are. Seriously. An early episode for instance has them chasing a duck to a pier. Now the standard expected gag would be for the gang and the duck to fall into the river only for the duck to swim away, but in Lapis Relights the duck instead vaults over them and into a separate trap laid by members of the group who didn't jump into the river. It's great seeing how incompetent everyone (apart from Alpha) is, and the inter/intra group dynamics shine brightly because of this interplay. For lack of a better description, it really is Milky Holmes lite but in a fantastical setting.

I did wish supernova got more exposure and screentime than what we got in the anime, to better establish them as a more antagonistic group, maybe have Yue develop more of a rivalry with Tia, but spreading out the focus to everyone else is good too. The 19 or so other cast members all receive sufficient characterization and are all uniquely distinctive enough in personalities and character relationships, and it is genuinely fun to see each new episode to see how everyone interacts with everyone else. The show really establishes good chemistry between each character no matter how unlikely the groupings are, and it's a real shame the show is only 12 episodes long. I know they wouldn't do this, but I really wanna see a sequel to this to further flesh everyone out.

So, while the idol performances were more of a distraction that anything, the show still succeeds with strong character relationships and great humour. It has been a long while since a Damedame show has graced the post-Milky Holmes era, but Lapis Relights shows the spirit of Damedame is still strong.

7/10

Want to state first that this is a review that is covering the first few episodes, to tell you if you should pick up this series or not. So here goes.

There are a lot of good points about this show so far, but also a bit of bad.

One massive good point is that the art style is vibrant, colourful, and pretty to look at. A major plus there, as having good art to look at, really is great for a watching experience. No matter if it comes to the characters themselves, or the spells that they used, or the backgrounds we see. Another good ... point is that it's cute girls doing cute things with magic thrown on top. Who wouldn't like that? The music is also very relaxing, it's a nice and chill anime.

The bad points, I'd honestly say so far the plot is a little eeeh in some areas, as while cute girls doing cute things with magic can be some's cup of tea, but it can also be boring as hell to some. As you may be wondering if it'll pick up. So while it's a good thing, it can also be a bad. The characters could also might seem a little bland, but they're pretty decent overall. as they have a range of personalities to really stand out as characters, and there is a bunch of them to get to know.

With how the story is set up from the 1st episode, it honestly took my interest, as I'm curious to see how far they'd progress in this magic school, and another element of the show that really made me wanna play a game that's within the show. So far it's been pretty good, bit of a slow pace, but it's alright.

Would I say pick it up? I'd say yes, it's pretty alright so far, and again, if this suits you, go for it.

"Just another CGDCT idol anime with the right amount of everything CGDCT idol enthusiasts need." - Yes, this is Lapis Re:LiGHTs.

Lapis Re:LiGHTs felt somewhat like Little Witch Academia but without the fantasy adventure thrill. Regardless of its unperceivable story the cuteness, good songs and soft yuri baits and teases makes up for everything, making the show overall better to a certain extent.

Expect water if you asked a server in a restaurant for water. I'm just going to point this out for people who are planning to watch Lapis Re:LiGHTs : "If you're here for something else which isn't CGDCT or idol then you ... won't get it."

All in all Lapis Re:LiGHTs honestly could've been better than a lazy attempt of copying or mixing aspects of shows such as AKB0048 and/or Little Witch Academia. Yes, I don't mind things like these but I do feel like adding a touch of excitement or big burst of thrill sensations along with a bit more uniquity would make this show better than what it is in the present. A bland happiness.

Recommended to all CGDCT and idol homies out there. This is a must watch for y'all.

I’ll say it now, coming from the perspective as someone who doesn’t usually like Idol anime/games: Lapis Re:LiGHTs was surprisingly good.

The only substantial issue present is the VAST difference in quality between episodes, switching from borderline putting me to sleep to downright amazing. As a result, I think I’ll have to discuss them separately in four “sub-reviews”, if you will.

Episodes I & II: 8/10
This series has a very strong start, introducing us to five likeable (albeit somewhat cliche) characters and a promising storyline. Teasers for future backstory plot points regarding Tiara’s sickness and the significance of her- well, tiara, also help to really draw you ... in with that building mystery.

Episodes III, IV, V, & VI: 4/10
Absolutely nothing of value is added here, with about twenty characters introduced in a manner so rapid fire it ensures you won’t be able to care about any of them. The only redeeming qualities here are the segments featuring the main five characters, and quite frankly, I wish they had kept the cast to that much more manageable sizing. This filler marathon is by far the show’s weakest point, being unbearable to the point of almost making me drop the show by episode V. Thankfully, I decided to stick it out, something which I was very happy about later on.

Episodes VII, VIII, & IX: 7/10
From this point onwards, the show seems to regain its sense of direction, focusing in on the story to a degree which builds upon plot points set up in the first two episodes. I can’t reveal much without spoilers, but the twist at he very end of this arc(?) genuinely had me on the edge of my metaphorical seat as I eagerly anticipated what was to come.

Episodes X, XI, & XII: 9/10
Now THIS is what I was hoping for when I first picked this anime up. These final three episodes incorporate a fantastic mix of drama, magic, and song/dance numbers, leaving me glad I stuck out that earlier mess just to see this. While the ending isn’t perfect (this was clearly meant to have a second season, but after the game’s closing and overall minimal interest in the project, that never came to fruition), it’s satisfying enough and closes all of the major plot threads which had been opened throughout the series. In all, this finale was by far the highlight of Lapis Re:LiGHTs.

OVERALL THOUGHTS:
If you’re looking to watch this, and you aren’t willing to be EXTREMELY patient with unrelated filler, I would recommend watching episodes 1 and 2, then immediately skipping to episode 7 and watching until the end. Otherwise, this is definitely a solid series which is at least worth giving a shot.

Lapis Re:LiGHTs (2020)

This show was unexpected in the show's story since it did not give much away until it basically started. It comes with a strong start to a dull middle and a rushed ending but it is still a fairly good ride if you enjoy idols and music. It is a really unusual take of the magical realms you normally see since it is filled with so much joy despite awful happenings in the background. Almost the most part of civilization is oblivious to the truth.

The show uses mostly a good level of art but at times goes off somewhat unexpectedly bad. The ... worst part of this show is the CGI that gets used during the orchestras since it is an appalling change of detail to get those sequences. It is like two different sets of teams made the show and didn't talk to each other on art forms. That said it is still crisp just a bit clunkier. The art when separated falls between good and bad but together is somewhat mediocre.

Sound is the best part of the show. The ED and OP are really good quality but the orchestras are what steals the show since they are diverse and wonderful.

Character development goes pretty deep at times but nothing special is really brought forward about anyone since no one is really very interesting or unique. The main cast set does get some great backstories but some are also left out to an extent. There are many characters you wish to know about.

Kaede, Maryberry and Garnett form the cutest and best girls of the show in my opinion. I often find those who are not the main cast can be more desirable.

I would say the show is very enjoyable from a sound standpoint. The story is somewhat rushed and dull in places but is also well put together.

I would give the show a pretty solid 7/10 despite its flaws on the basis of the music and the enjoyment for the most part. A second season could be welcomed but I also do not think it would be necessarily needed.

This is review is coming from someone who just watches anime for fun and not really knit-picky about a lot of stuff but if you want an anime to have a good time but not a long time, Lapis Re:LiGHTs isnt a bad choice! I didnt know LRL at all until I heard about the anime but I then learned there was a game for it so it's been a thing for a while it seems.

As previous reviews say, the plot isnt based on anything /big/ besides the evolution of the protagonist with a goal with friends with other side stories. But Im not ... picky at what I want to watch.
I personally enjoy it overall! The character designs and personalities are fun, the setting of anime is really nice like how they created a pretty elaborate universe of both idol, fantasy, and magical girl together, and I gotta say the songs the unit groups have are pretty good anime-idol wise! Their music is more, I guess like fit for 2016 and up as anime songs for fans in late teens to young adult(?)

The anime got cute girls, great interactions between the characters, an interesting universe, and catchy songs so give the anime a try!

Lapis was probably my second or third favourite show of Summer 2020. Going into the series I had never heard of it, but my interest was piqued by the combination of idol girls and mahou shojo, both of which I love. After all, who doesn't enjoy cute anime girls singing and fighting monsters, right? Luckily, I was not disappointed at all and was actually rather taken a back by the quality of writing and the great characters in the show.

The story, for me, was actually rather unique and managed to put a cool spin on common idol tropes. I found the concept of the ... witch academy and magic being intertwined to music to be very fun. The humour managed to land with me, which is always a plus with anime and the girls are just damn cute. You really can't ask for much more in this genre and I think Lapis will provide an enjoyable experience for anyone looking for a fun watch. You'll become emotionally invested in the girls and their journey as well learn a few new songs along the way.

My only negative point to the show is that it's only 12 eps long. It's certainly been a nice way to kick off my weekends for the past 3 months and I will really miss it. Fortunately, we do have a manga for more content.

Lapis Re:Lights gets 10 gems out of 10 from me.

Good lord. I can't believe I wasted my time on this crapfest of a show. What we have here is an anime that's part of yet another multimedia project to promote a cell phone game involving cute idol girls. Lapis Re:LiGHTs main selling point is that it takes place in a made up fantasy world with made up countries that are much more European-style in nature as opposed to something like Love Live or 22/7. Now, the only reason I watched this was because nothing else really interested me, and since the plague is still going around and putting a bunch of anime on hold, ... I thought it'd be a nice time killer. It was...but now I wish I had every minute I spent watching this crappy show back! Basically, a young girl goes to a fancy magic idol school where she can become a witch, which in this case is basically a magical idol. But she winds up getting stuck with the flunkies who are about to get expelled because they suck at everything. They decide to try and become an idol group and raise enough points so that they don't get expelled.

In the right hands, this premise would have been great. It could have made for an interesting character study and presented a lot of opportunities for storylines that could go just about anywhere. Unfortunately, Lapis Re:Lights has some of the worst writing, direction, and storytelling I've ever seen. And I kind of feel bad about saying that because Lapis Re:LiGHTs has some really interesting ideas and a cool setting! I'll get the positives (or what little of them it has) out of the way so I don't be a complete killjoy. I must admit, the show's setting is really intriguing. Taking place in a European style fantasy land, with magic schools, and "witches" (That's what the idols are called in this show) capable of using all sorts of magic by whistling, using hoverboards to fly around and participate in sports, those are really neat ideas! Had the show actually bothered to capitalize on the ideas it had and flesh out its world a lot more, they really could have brought this setting to life with the ideas they presented. Unfortunately, the show spends more time on cute girls just putzing around and expanding its massive cast than actually caring about things like its setting and, y'know, proper character development.

But more on that in a bit. The setting being really well made also has great animation to back it up. The colors are bright, character motion is smooth, the town the girls live in makes use of both European style architecture and more fantastical, sci-fi elements like hoverboards and castles, and the idol concerts are always a visual treat to watch. Granted, they still use bad, wonky CGI for the actual performances, but at this point it's become the standard, and the character designs...aren't great. Many of the girls don't seem all that distinguishable from one another if you swapped their hair styles, colors, and eye colors, with some exceptions, especially some of the younger, cutesier looking girls like Maryberry (Seriously?! Maryberry?! What the hell kind of dumb name is that?!). Also, I'm not gonna lie, the background music in the show is better than all of the songs the girls sing. Many of the songs feel like they were copy-pasted from other songs over the past 20 or so years, and with a few exceptions, all of them are sung by squeaky voices that just border on grating.

Unfortunately, the animation and music alone absolutely cannot save this utter trainwreck of a show. One of the show's biggest problems is the fact that it's 12 episodes long, yet has a grand total of 24 named characters, barring a select few minor ones who only appear in one or two episodes. The thing about a show with a short length is that it doesn't have the luxuries that a show that has 24-26, or even 52 episodes has, and has to set its cards on the table right at the start. It can't afford to take shortcuts with its story and its characters. Most 12-13 episode anime get around this by keeping their main cast small, and having side characters still play important roles when needed. Lapis Re:LiGHTs made the decision to have an impossibly huge cast of characters, and none of them get any sort of development or focus whatsoever, and even when they do, any development they do get is so utterly predictable and cliche, you can pretty much guess how their arcs will progress without even trying. It doesn't help that many of the episodes just consist of the girls just goofing around or doing stuff that has absolutely nothing to do with the main plot. One episode has the girls play a really degrading magical board game, and in said episode, one of the girls is made to wear a skimpy playboy bunny suit and act like a rabbit for shits and giggles. No, I'm not even kidding. Because the show has such a large cast and no interest in giving them anything beyond one basic personality trait, all of them come across as bland and unmemorable in any way, or wind up being memorable for all the wrong reasons, like Lucifer for being a complete bitch for no reason, and the worst of them, Tsubaki, for basically being a creepy siscon who gets off on stealing her younger sisters' panties for some dumbass reason. Did we really need that? Many of the characters are so insignificant that the show would seriously benefit if they had been cut out completely.

And that's not even getting to the utterly piss-poor writing! The show sets up a lot of rules for its setting, like a point system for the magic school that determines whether kids get to stay or get expelled, but often times it contradicts itself when its most convenient. The main group is constantly on the verge of getting expelled, but a good portion of them don't even give a damn and just want to putz around (Lavie is the worst offender)! Plus, one girl is confirmed to be an adult, or at the very least in her late teens, yet is still in the school under a different name and in another unit, for really stupid reasons that already contradict the show's established rules! They try to explain it as her being held back lots of times, but with how strict the school system is in-universe, you'd think the girl would have gotten expelled! Furthermore, many of the conflicts in this show, especially the one near the end, could have been resolved in five minutes if the characters just talked to each other and explained from the start why they did what they did, y'know, like mature adults! But instead of doing that, they needlessly come up with these weirdly elaborate schemes to not only keep Tiara in the dark about it, but actively sabotage her and the main groups' chances at actually succeeding in every way possible in order to guarantee nothing but failure on their end in order to get them to do what they want! I dare anyone to tell me this isn't some form of emotional abuse and manipulation in some way! The character responsible for all of this doesn't even get called out or given any real consequences for her actions! Because of all of this, and the show's utter lack of interest in fleshing out its characters and...well, everything else, any attempt at being genuine is completely overshadowed by its complete and utter stupidity and overreliance on cliches and stock archetypes. All of it comes together to make a really hokey, meely-mouth ending that's just cheesy and dumb and never felt earned in any way whatsoever.

I really wanted to be more generous with my rating for this show, but the more I watched it and thought about it, the more I realized the show itself doesn't have anything redeemable about it, other than its animation and interesting ideas that it never got to use properly. The reason why I consider shows like, say, Zombieland Saga, AKB0048, and 22/7 to be good, even with their flaws, is because they actually cared enough to flesh out their characters, even if their methods of doing so didn't always make the landing (In the latter's case especially), and put in effort to at the very least try to do something different with their premises and be somewhat enjoyable. Lapis Re:LiGHTs is just a soulless cash grab that is just ultimately hollow, shallow, and a complete waste of time.

Before this series came out, I happily added it to my PTW list, expecting it to be at least worthwhile to watch every episode, and perhaps more.

However, after a decent start for 2 episodes, the series slowed down so much that it got really boring, they are doing normal life things but in the most unrealistic way, then spent an episode playing 'sports'. If I wanted to watch a sports anime I'd just do it.

It just feels that there's so much potential in this anime but it's been wasted, I tried to force myself to watch but I couldn't make it past episode 6.

Now that ... the bad stuffs is out of the way, I want to take time to appreciate what's good.

The art is very good, I liked all the characters, they all have very good details and the animation is very lively. The backgrounds are really good as well, and I really like the design of the buildings.

The voice acting is top notch, there isn't one character with the annoying little girl voice where the voice actor is squeezing their throat.

Maybe I'd have rated this series higher if all episodes are out and I can skip all the meaningless 'plot' or fillers that is just a waste of time(imo). Having no story progression for 2-3 episodes straight is just unbearable. So watch this with caution, unless you really like the most predictable slice of life genre.

-SPOILERS-

I really loved this show but I felt the need to make this review for a few reasons. After watching the second half of the show as it aired this season, I got a lot more invested once they finally started talking about becoming idles. For some reason, they decided to make the first 5 or 6 episodes purely filler. Sure we get a little bit of world building and some very minor character development, but that's half of the entire show. If they dedicated that time to the story or some deeper development for the main characters, this show could've been so much more.

Story ... - 4/10
Like I said, the first half of the show is purely filler. The story takes place in a magic school where you must accumulate enough points through doing various tasks to avoid getting expelled from the school. The main 5 girls do whatever they can to get enough points to do so for 5 episodes. With only around 6 episodes to develop the actual story, you can obviously tell that there would be some flaws. Some might argue that the first half of the show brought some necessary worldbuilding, but that worldbuilding is completely insignificant. Instead of building up the threat of the magic beasts' invasion, they decide to play dodge ball and walk around a haunted house. It's almost insulting that they just wasted all this time for nothing. They could've at least put the idea in the minds of the main characters of becoming idols, but they had to save that for later for some reason.
Once the second half of the show rolls around, Tiara and the gang decide to become idols so they can get the final remaining points they need to avoid expulsion. Some more stuff is revealed in the last episode about her relationship with her sister, and the series leaves off an unfinished note as all the idol groups declare to help recover Tiara's sister's voice. The story wasn't anything special but it wasn't anything too offensive besides the 5 episodes of filler. There were some heartwarming scenes and some hype moments. Honestly pretty solid since they decided to dedicate half of the show to filler. The filler was pretty entertaining but it barely added anything significant.

Art - 7/10
The art in the first episode is great, but gets a little worse for a few episodes after that. Eventually, we're getting an idol performance at least once every episode. The animation in the performances are pretty solid as well. There were some janky sequences as well as some extra nice ones. Nothing much else to say.

Sound - 7/10
The voice acting and the sound effects were nothing special nor terrible, but I personally loved most of the music. I was really hoping they would sing the opening in the show, but I'm not too angry. The songs that the girls sung during the performances were great. That's all I have to say.

Characters - 4/10
Another big issue with this show is the amount of time it takes to introduce a stupid amount of irrelevant characters. They take a few minutes to give some shallow development to the main girls except Tiara and then decide to introduce 10 more girls. That's an exaggeration, but it was honestly stupid that they did this. Tiara and her sister have a complicated relationship that ends up getting resolved in the last episode. It was pretty heartwarming but it was nothing special once again. Yet, the side characters are just plain stereotypical anime cardboard cut-outs. I even had a hard time remembering the characters names even at the halfway point during the show's initial run. If the show just kept LiGHTS, Supernova, and got rid of all the other groups, then it would've had time to sincerely develop our main girls while providing them with rivals. Nevertheless, I still love unconditionally love the girls, hence my unreasonable love for the series.

Enjoyment - 7/10
I like idol anime and slice of life anime. This anime had a lot of solid slice of life and lots of idols, so I liked it. The humor during the slice of life episodes was actually pretty nice. It was also satisfying to see Tiara get better at using her magical power, which she never uses once after episode 5(?).

Overall - 5/10
I really liked this show since it was one of my first idol anime to get into, and I certainly wasn't disappointed. It wasn't as if I didn't notice the flaws as I watched the show either; I just simply chose to ignore them and have a good time. This show is honestly just mindless fun with some heartwarming moments sprinkled in here and there. If you're lookin for a solid story or deep characters, turn away now. If you like idols and you're lookin for an anime to just chill and not think about anything when you're watching it then this is the anime for you. I'm gonna miss this show, but it is a multimedia project. Keep a lookout for the game and the manga adaption.
All in all, its not really an objectively good anime, in fact its probably closer to being bad, but you can still have a good time watching it.

Lapis Re: LiGHTs (LiGHTs) is for me one of the most beautiful animes in a long time, where people also sing.
Not only that the songs are atmospheric and heartfelt, the characters and their various characteristics came across very well. The story also had a wonderful flow of time and you felt picked up at all times and you didn't have the feeling that it was stretched with senseless story.
So much was packed into the 12 episodes that it was neither too much nor too little. I also found the dance animations wonderful and you hardly noticed any overlapping images.
I'm blown away when ... it comes to this anime and would love to see more of it, including the second season, but since I don't know how far the light novel or the manga is, I just hope for it.
And the 12th episode even made me happy with big tears, it was so beautiful for me the episode. So look at it and judge for yourself but you have to be ready to see an anime of the special kind.
10 out of 10 stars. Ps that is only my impression and my opinion that does NOT have to agree with others.

Wow, this one really surprised me. It's a pretty good music/idol anime that I never heard of before. I'm glad I gave it a chance.

The story, while it's pretty fast-pace and a bit cheesy at times, I think that it told what it needed to tell from it's initial premise. But 12 episodes isn't really enough to flesh out the plot to bring out some depth or meaningful messages to it. Though I really enjoyed the story nonetheless.
But regardless of that, this show really has some trouble in balancing the magic and reality aspect of it. There's no fine line on what magic can and ... can't do and it's always just so convenient when magic works in certain episodes but suddenly isn't even used in other episodes.
The settings of this anime is also quite shaky. There's a lot left unexplored and unexplained. Though it's mainly just it's missing potential and not really plot breaking problem of sorts.

The characters are quite trope-y but it's understandable since there's A LOT of characters here. Mostly they are here for Waifu bait (and Yuri bait cause why not), but that doesn't stop them from being forgettable or something. The only characters that I forgot are the ones that get zero to no focus so I think that the rest of the characters are good and got pretty decent spotlight.
The main cast isn't as strong as I think, but Lavie mah girl carried the team. Everything she does is so crazy that it's entertaining. She a great girl.

The animation is pretty fucking good. Considering that they ain't Sunrise (known for Love Live franchise, undoubtedly the Best music/idol anime), I think they made a decent job for the CG models. My only complaint is how they never utilized the CG models for some memorable camera work animation. It's a wasted potential tbh considering that this anime was made in 2020.
Though episode 8 had some great camera movement that utilized the CG models to it's utmost potential.
Moving on from the CG, the handrawn scenes from this anime is great. It's consistently drawn and never go off-models. It's just pretty to look at.

The music is one of the most important, arguably the most important, aspect for Music/idol animes. So how does this one do? Well, pretty f-cking good.
While there's no immediate bangers like in other music anime, the songs are consistent and catchy that I never found anything that I didn't like.
Though the opening and ending are bangers. One of the most underrated op/ed that I've heard yet.

Overall, it's just a good music anime. It's probably one of the better anime adaptation of a game.
(6.6/10)

A unique school idol anime in a fantasy setting. Think Harry Potter but with singing and less plot. I really enjoyed all the songs featured in the anime to the point that I bought anime ost album. Unfortunately the story is not very memorable or complex which is usually the standard for most idol animes. Characters are cute and likeable, although I personally thought that the main girls were overshadowed by other idol units.

Overall, give this anime a try if you are into idol genre and looking for decent j-pop music. This anime definitely deserves 9/10 for it's music and most likely 7.5/10 for ... everything else.

Im in the mood nowadays to try genre of anime that is not really my type and one of these genres is the musiclal ( idol and moe stuff). I have a low expectation for this anime because of its episode 1 but fortunately i didn't drop it immediately because later episodes become more livelier and funnier because of the other cast specially the Ashley+Lavie. Well as for the story of this anime it is the result of mixture of fantasy+idol anime. It is an idol anime set in a setting wherein girls who aspire to become a witch will have to attend this academy ... and raise their points and their ranking. To do that you have to form a group to help each other raise points. The animation and music in the anime is good, the good thing about the 1st episode is the good singing voice of our main girl Tiara. Her voice really captivates my heart in the scene although i was really bored for the first episode. Then every other episode other groups and character will be introduced. They have their own unique theme and vibe to look forward to. Overall all it is a decent idol anime, having a mediocre plotline but entertaining cast so I was entertained so far by this anime. For waifu? Im still choosing XD But it is worth it to watch? Yes it is! If you're looking a mixture of fantasy and idols with good funny scenes you must try this one. I'll give it a 7/10

< Concise review >

Oftentimes, when the shows average score highly disagrees with the reviewers, it's the sign of a misunderstood anime. MAL ratings are notoriously unreliable.

However, when it comes to idol anime, this is generally not the case. If anything, you should be even more skeptical of a show when you see this pattern. The producers of idol themed anime know full well that the idol fanbase will gladly eat up poor writing, lazy direction, and cliche ridden garbage so as long as it includes some cute girls singing while wearing cute clothes. Unfortunately, that's exactly what Lapis Re:LiGHTs is. This anime is nothing ... more than yet another installment of boring uninspired near-plotless nonsense, with the only conflict of the show ( OMG We Gonna fail and get expelled ) being an excuse for said cute girls singing in said cute clothes. I couldn't even include spoilers in this review if I wanted to because there is legit nothing to spoil. The only saving grace is that the animation quality isn't horrible, but at the end of the day this anime is like an extremely bad musical fanfic of Harry Potter stripped of everything that makes the "Magic School" setting interesting.

4/10. And ONLY because the animation quality is acceptable, otherwise it would have been a 2. Unless you are a rabid idol fan who has finished consuming your previous idolproduct and are now seeking to get excited for your next idolproduct, avoid.

- A bit of a spoiler from this review

This is my first time watching music idol anime. i watch it 1 episode a day, because i don't feel not as addictive as when watching the action anime genre.somehow in my opinion, the story is very ordinary, and for me the only good in the story is that we know the secret from main character older sister. maybe if they add more story how to heal her older sister maybe that would spice up the story a little.

I like the animation in this anime, its so good to watch, feels like watching a movie. especially when ... they dance, and i think they spent more money on that. i don't really like the music they sing it, maybe because it's not my taste, but its good for the anime because each group sing different song and it was like showing how the group is.